


Bonding in Snowbelle

by MellieCrescent



Series: Bonds of Love [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Café, Charizarditeshipping, Feelings, Fluff, Friendship, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Italics for thoughts/flashbacks, Kalos-chihou | Kalos, M/M, Presents, Shopping, Snow, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, megabondshipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8999692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellieCrescent/pseuds/MellieCrescent
Summary: With Christmas approaching and the Kalos League still being another week away, Ash and co. decide to shop for presents while they are still in Snowbelle City. As they split up, however, Ash runs into someone completely unexpected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I do not own Pokémon or any of the mentioned characters.  
> This is a Megabondshipping One-shot and also the first part in the Bonds of Love Series.

It was white.

Everywhere Ash Ketchum looked it was white. Snow on the ground, on the roofs, on the trees and on the mountains. Not to mention a bitter cold air that managed to blow through his winter clothes, causing the sixteen year old trainer to shiver.

He was currently in the city that freezes colder than winter.

 _What a nice motto_ , thought Ash dryly as he rubbed his hands, trying to warm himself up, _I can’t believe I forgot my snow gloves._ It had been three days since his victory against Wulfric, earning his last gymbadge, the Iceberg Badge, and now he could finally participate in the Kalos League.

But the league was still a week away and since it was almost Christmas one of his traveling companions, by the name of Serena, wanted them all to stay in Snowbelle City so they could shop for presents.

Christmas, one of the best holidays known to mankind. The time for you and your family to get together by the Christmas Tree, play games, eat different kinds of delicious food and giving away presents to the ones you cared about.

Ash loved Christmas, and even if he wouldn’t be able to celebrate it at home with his mother this year, he still would be able to with his friends and Pokémon at the Pokémon Center.

And so, in his excitement to get his friends and his Pokémon presents, Ash had managed to forget to put on his snow gloves.

His hands were freezing from the cold.

Ash shivered again and put his hands into his pockets. Maybe it would warm them up a little.

It had only been about an hour and a half since he and his friends split up, leaving their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center so they wouldn’t be able to even take a peek at what they would be getting, and so far he had only managed to find something for Clemont.

It immediatley called to him when he saw it, tempting him from behind the window glass inside of a clothes store. A dark green scarf with Magnemite and Magneton prints on it.

Clemont liked electric types and he specialized in them as the Lumiose City gymleader, despite having a Bunnelby and a Chespin, and since his other scarf had been ruined by one of his last inventions exploding on him, this seemed like a very nice present to give the blond.

He did have an idea of what to get Bonnie, he just had to find the right store, but the one he was struggling the most with was Serena.

Ash knew that Serena liked to perform with her Pokémon and liked cute dresses and accessoires, but he didn’t know what kind would suit her because his sense of fashion wasn’t all that great.

He didn’t want to disappoint his friend by getting her a dress or accessoires that she probably wouldn’t like, even if she would accept them because they came from him.

Something like that would only leave a bad taste in his mouth in the end.

Recently Ash started to notice that Serena liked him as more than a friend, and it made being around her a little awkward sometimes when she blushed at something he did or when she tried to get closer to him.

But despite him not feeling the same way about her, Ash still wanted to get her something she would actually enjoy.

 _I like her as a friend_ , thought Ash as he continued his window shopping, _there’s someone else out there for me…the one I like._

He felt his heart beat faster at the thought of that person. Another trainer, like himself, who he had only met two times on his journey through Kalos, yet felt attracted to almost immediatley. It started off as physical attraction but…

 _There’s something more_ , thought Ash with an almost dreamy smile, _something about his personality draws me in and I…I want to know more about him._ Only thinking about that person seemed to be able to make his shivering body warm up a little.

Ash sighed. ‘’If only he was here, maybe he could’ve helped me out,’’ he murmured, before chuckling at the thought. Somehow the thought of that person shopping for presents and holding multiple bags in his hands containing said presents amused him.

_No, he doesn’t seem like the type._

Ash continued on and after a few moments of walking around on the pavement, leaving behind visible footprints in the snow and passing by other people, he eventually found the shop he had been looking for.

It was a toy store, by the name of ‘Cubchoo’s Toy House.’

He placed one of his cold hands on the doorknob and opened it, walking inside of the store, only pausing to close the door quietly behind him. Now he only needed to find _that_ section and he would have his present for Bonnie.

Shopping was no big deal for Alain. When he needed to get supplies he wouldn’t hesitate to head into the store and buy them. That was how he usually did it.

Go to the store, buy what he needed for himself and his Pokémon and move on with his journey. It was quick and simple without needing to waste anymore time.

But today was a different matter and Alain, dressed in his black winter clothes with his usual light blue scarf around his neck, entered a store he never would’ve thought to be inside of.

A toy store.

He was inside a toy store currently standing in front of shelves filled with plushies, feeling awkward as he felt the stares from those younger than him, walking with their parents, on his person.

Alain felt really out of place.

 _It’s for a good cause,_ the black haired teenager reminded himself firmly, _It’s almost Christmas and I want to be able to cheer Mairin up at least a little._

Ever since Mairin’s Chespin – Chespie – had fallen into a coma she had been terribly depressed.

Alain would be able to restore her Pokémon back to health should he gather enough Mega Evolution Energy for the Mega Evolution System, but he hadn’t achieved that goal quite yet.

That meant Mairin would have to spend Christmas without Chespie and Alain wanted to at least give her something so he could see her smile again.

If only for a while.

He didn’t know how long he had been standing in the exact same place, but it felt way too long to the eighteen year old as he had yet to make a decision on one of the many Pokémon plushies available on the shelves.

There were common ones such as the three starter Pokémon from Kalos, Froakie, Fennekin, Chespin – Alain inwardly cringed – and ofcourse a fan favourite, Pikachu.

Seeing the yellow Pokémon made him think of a certain trainer and his special Greninja, who he very much wanted to battle again at the Kalos League once he obtained all his eight badges. So far he had managed to obtain five of them in a very short amount of time, burning through them all with only his Charizard.

Alain’s heart skipped a beat and he frowned, pushing this feeling of longing to see the younger trainer again away. He had no time for his feelings to act up when he needed to decide on something important.

He eventually decided on a Azurill plushie, which was sitting lonely on its own as the last one of it’s kind on the shelf. Alain reached out his hand to grab it –

Only for his hand to collide with another, making him jerk back while the owner of the other hand yelped in surprise at the sudden contact.

Alain blinked his blue eyes as he took in a familiar young trainer standing next to him, with slightly tanned skin, black hair and dressed in blue winter clothes with the Azurill plushie in his hands which he had been reaching out for previously.

‘’…Ash?’’

Hearing his name, said trainer opened his brown eyes and glanced up at him.

‘’Alain!’’ He exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice as his cheeks colored slightly, ‘’Wha-what are you doing in this kind of place?!’’ Ash never would’ve expected to see the person of his affections in a toy store of all places.

Alain’s heartbeat only quickened at seeing Ash standing in front of him, only a few inches away. He felt so excited just to see the younger trainer and they weren’t even having a battle.

‘’Just getting something for a friend.’’ He answered quietly, trying to keep himself calm at how close Ash was at the moment.

Ash’s eyes lit up, ‘’Shopping for Christmas as well?’’ he asked enthusiastically. Alain blinked and his lips curled into a small smile, showing his amusement at how full of energy he was.

 _It’s actually pretty cute._ Alain froze at the sudden thought and quickly pushed it away, feeling a little uncomfortable thinking about Ash like that when said trainer was standing right in front of him _._

‘’You could say that.’’ He answered.

Ash held out the Azurill plushie that he had grabbed from the shelf towards Alain. ‘’Then the plushie is yours!’’ He said quickly, ‘’I’m sure your friend will like it.’’

Alain took the Azurill plushie from Ash gratefully but then he frowned. ‘’What about you Ash? Didn’t you also want to get this plushie for someone?’’ He asked quietly. Ash shot him a grin.

‘’It’s alright! There are a lot of other plushies I’m sure Bonnie will like!’’

That was true. Despite the Kalos starters and Pikachu plushies, there were also others like, Lapras, Goomy and Vulpix for example.

Alain saw Ash turning towards to shelves and browse through them, ‘’If you’re sure,’’ murmured the older trainer quietly under his breath.

Alain would’ve gladly given up the Azurill plushie to Ash if he wanted to give it to his friend on Christmas. Even if it had taken him so long to finally make a decision.

He quickly shook his head. _These feelings I have…they are messing with me_ , thought Alain as Ash turned towards him again with a bright smile on his face – which made his heart skip a beat – now holding a Swablu plushie in his arms.

Alain found himself smiling back.

‘’Well, I’ll be off now Alain.’’ said Ash as they walked out of ‘Cubchoo’s Toy House’, the presents in the bags they held in their hands. They had been wrapped with dark green christmas paper with Stantlers on them and a dark red ribbon by the nice lady behind the cash register.

Ash was kind of sad to leave Alain, the person he was attracted to and liked more than a friend, after just meeting up with him again, but he still needed to get presents for Serena and his other Pokémon.

‘’It was nice to talk to you again!’’

He proceeded to walk past Alain, but a hand planted firmly on his shoulder quickly made the younger trainer stop in his tracks.

‘’Wait Ash,’’ said the older trainer, which made Ash turn around with slightly flushed cheeks. ‘’How about we go and have a drink together? There’s a café not too far away from here.’’ Alain suggested.

He didn’t want to seperate from Ash so soon after just having met up with him again.

Ash’s heart pounded in his chest. Was this really happening? Alain wanted to go and have a drink with him? He didn’t expect those words to leave Alain’s mouth.

It made the younger trainer really happy –

‘’But I still need to get something for Serena and the rest of my Pokémon.’’ Ash blurted as he looked at Alain apologetically, ‘’And since I don’t know what to get them I doubt I’ll be done anytime soon.’’

The older trainer chuckled calmly.

‘’I can help,’’ Alain offered kindly, ‘’I still have time to spare and I’d like to spend it with you. If we have time left after getting those presents we can still go the café.’’

Ash’s face literally looked like a Cheri Berry right now. He opened his mouth to speak but no words left him, so he just closed it and nodded in response.

He simply couldn’t say no to Alain.

As they were walking Alain noticed that Ash was shivering from the cold and wasn’t wearing any snow gloves. ‘’You’re shivering Ash,’’ he stated, ‘’Why aren’t you wearing your snow gloves?’’ Alain expressed his concern.

‘’I was kind of…excited to go shopping for presents and forgot to put them on,’’ Ash admitted as he rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish, ‘’They are still back at the Pokémon Center.’’

 _I didn’t think you’d be like that, Ash_ , thought Alain with a shake of his head. He knew that Ash could get very excited about things, but not to the point of him actually forgetting something important that he had to wear in this cold weather.

He grabbed the younger trainers cold hand and started to walk faster. ‘’Wha- A-Alain!’’ exclaimed Ash in surprise, his brown eyes wide as he was dragged along, ‘’Wh-where are you taking me?’’

Alain glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. ‘’To a clothes store, you need a pair of snow gloves or you’ll risk getting a frostbite.’’ He said, his voice firm and holding no place for arguing.

Ash felt like smacking himself upside the head when he saw a familiar clothes store come into view. He had been to that same store before to get Clemont that scarf, yet he had never thought to get himself a new pair of snow gloves before Alain pointed it out.

He sweat-dropped at his own stupidity.

It didn’t take long for Ash to pick out a new pair of blue snow gloves, which complimented the rest of his winter clothes nicely. He sighed, turning around to see Alain browse through some female clothing. ‘’Is your friend into these kind of things?’’ He asked as he tried to help Ash find a present for Serena.

‘’Yeah, but I don’t know what kind Serena would like.’’ Answered Ash with a frown on his face, ‘’I’m not good with these kind of things, and I don’t want to give her a dress she probably wouldn’t like. The same goes for accessoires.’’

Alain nodded, ‘’Anything else she likes to do, besides dressing up?’’ he questioned further. Ash bit his lip in thought. Serena made Poképuffs from time to time for their Pokémon, once for her Pokévision debut video and she even entered a Poképuff contest once with her rival, Miette.

‘’She bakes a lot.’’

‘’How about an apron then?’’

 _Apron?_ Thought Ash as he thought the idea over. Whenever Serena baked she always wore the same apron – he had never seen her with a different one on before.

It was a better idea than getting her a dress or accesoires.

Near the dresses where Alain stood were a lot of different aprons to choose from. ‘’That sounds like a good idea,’’ said the younger trainer in agreement, ‘’I think she’d like a new one.’’

 _One of a different color would do nicely,_ thought Ash as he looked through the different aprons. Right now the apron Serena had was a light pink color with white flowers on them. He saw some with texts on them but thought the ones with Pokémon on them would be the better choice.

Alain watched Ash’s facial expression as he searched through the aprons and couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips. Not only was the expression on his Ash’s face when he was thinking pretty adorable, it was also nice to see how serious the younger trainer was about searching for the right presents for each of his companions.

It was strange, but Alain kind of felt left out. It might be his feelings speaking up for all he knew, but he wanted to give and receive something for Christmas as well. _I don’t have time_ , Alain reminded himself, _I have to put Mairin’s present under the tree, then get the last of those badges and finish getting all the Mega Evolution Energy._

_I do not have time for something like Christmas._

Alain narrowed his eyes.

_I want to but I can’t._

When he glanced at Ash, his smiling face and his lit up eyes his heart started to beat faster. Alain felt his desire grow stronger.

_I want to get something for Ash at least. But I don’t know what he likes._

Then his eyes landed on the blue snow gloves Ash had picked out and his mood brightened a little.

_Ofcourse._

Ash looked a little put out as he walked next to Alain, who looked quite pleased with himself. Ash had chosen a green apron with a Kirlia on it for Serena, and it was now in his shopping bag, wrapped up with christmas paper.

On his hands were his new snow gloves, which he had wanted to buy for himself but…Alain had insisted on buying it for him, saying he needed his money to buy the apron for Serena.

Ash kept protesting, not wanting the older trainer to spend his money on him and saying he still had plenty of money left himself, but Alain wouldn’t budge.

It had been a nice gesture and Ash actually felt warm inside when Alain brought the snow gloves for him, as it kind of felt like an early Christmas present – despite him needing it the exact moment they walked out of the store.

_A present from Alain._

But now Ash wanted to get something for the older trainer as well, to return the favor. _I don’t know what though,_ thought Ash as they continued on walking, _and I don’t know how long we have together._

He glanced at Alain.

_I hope I’ll manage to find something for him in time._

A couple of stores later Ash had found something for his Pokémon. Since they all kind of took after their trainer when It came to food, Ash got each of them a jar of Christmas Cookies but for every one a different kind of flavor.

They all had their own preferences after all.

Speaking of preferences…

For Pikachu he had decided on a bottle of ketchup instead, knowing how much his partner liked it. Ash remembered the surprised look on Alain’s face when he had reached out to the red bottle and had to explain to him about his Pokémon’s obsession with it.

And now he was sitting in the café. It was a small place, but cozy and warm. There weren’t many people around. _I haven’t managed to find anything for Alain_ , thought Ash with a sigh, _I don’t know what he likes._

He turned his head to where Alain was standing by the bar, currently ordering their drinks. He had told him he would have to leave soon, saying that he had something important to do.

_I really wanted to get him something to thank him. For buying the snow gloves for me and…for spending time with me._

‘’Sorry I’ve kept you waiting Ash,’’ said Alain quietly as he put a cup with hot choco on the table in front of the younger trainer, ‘’Here you go.’’

Ash smiled gratefully, ‘’Thank you, Alain.’’ He murmured back before he narrowed his eyes at him, ‘’You know I could’ve gotten my own.’’ The older trainer simply shrugged and took his seat, sitting across of Ash, holding his own cup, filled with tea, in his hands.

‘’I wanted to treat you,’’ explained Alain as he leaned back in the chair, taking a sip of his tea. Ash frowned, ‘’Why?’’ he asked. He couldn’t think of anything he had done to help the older trainer.

Alain’s lips curled into a small smile. ‘’For spending some time with me.’’ He answered, ‘’It’s a nice change from battling.’’ Ash blinked at him, finding himself slowly smiling back.

‘’Yeah,’’ said Ash in agreement, ‘’It was fun, maybe we could do this again sometime? Though I’m not giving up on that rematch.’’

Alain chuckled. ‘’I know. I’m also looking forward to another battle - ’’ _you’re a real challenge Ash_ ‘’- how about when we see each other next time?’’ He suggested calmly.

Ash grinned widely at him, his eyes glowing with excitement. ‘’It’s a promise!’’ He said joyfully before drinking some of his hot choco. His grin turned into a content smile when he felt the drink warming up his body from the inside.

_Today really has been fun, but I don’t feel satisfied just yet._

Alain glanced at his watch as he drank the last of his tea. ‘’It’s time for me to go.’’ He murmured with a frown. _Time sure flies fast._

Ash looked up at him and nodded his head, drinking the last bit of his drink before standing up. ‘’I’ll have to go too…my friends are probably waiting for me back at the Pokémon Center.’’

_I don’t want to leave just yet._

Alain paid for both of their drinks and they walked out of the café, each holding their bags with presents in their hands. Ash glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

_Not without giving you something, too._

A blush covered Ash’s cheeks as he, at the moment, saw nothing but Alain in front of him. A kind look in his eyes, a smile on his lips, looking content just to be next to him.

_Alain._

Cold, soft lips pressed themselves against Alain’s cheek, making the older trainer widen his eyes in surprise. There stood Ash, kissing him on the cheek for a couple of seconds, before retreating, a dark blush on his face and brown eyes looking at him rather shyly.

‘’Thank you for today, Alain.’’ He whispered quietly as he backed away from the still surprised trainer in front of him, ‘’I really enjoyed our time together.’’

‘’Ash…’’ murmured Alain, his own face growing a little red as he placed a hand on the cheek the younger trainer had just kissed. He saw that Ash was about to walk away but he leaned forward and caught his wrist just in time.

Ash almost jerked away, but chose to look at the snow covered pavement instead, avoiding Alain’s eyes, which softened when the older trainer saw his embarrassment.

‘’I enjoyed it too.’’ He said kindly, slowly letting go of Ash’s wrist, ‘’Until next time.’’

Ash glanced up at him, a bright smile appearing on his face at his choice of words, which Alain noticed just in time as he turned and walked away from the younger trainer.

‘’Yeah…’’ murmured Ash, watching Alain walking away for a few seconds before going into the other direction towards the Pokémon Center, his heart pounding wildly in his chest at the move he had just made. A move that hadn’t been rejected by Alain.

Ash smiled happily.

_I’m glad I managed to give him something, as small and fleeting it might have been._

Meanwhile Alain was smiling as he, once again, placed his hand on the cheek that had been kissed by Ash, the small blush on his cheeks having yet to disappear.

Snow started to fall gently from the sky and he looked up as he continued on walking.

‘’It looks like I did get a present after all.’’

There was a warm feeling in his chest and a chuckle escaped his lips.

‘’But I never would’ve expected something like this from you, Ash.’’

_We’ll definetly meet again, you can count on it._

_Now more than ever._

_**~ Fin ~**  _

**Author's Note:**

> Want to chat? Stop by my [Twitter - MellieCrescent](https://twitter.com/MellieCrescent)


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